1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for supplying textile machines with feed material, particularly for furnishing sliver to the spinning stations of spinning machines, wherein the sliver, which is produced by an upstream production machine, is advanced by a transport unit that is movable along the spinning machine, to the region of the spinning stations and is transferred to feed stations provided at the spinning stations.
Supplying the spinning stations of open-end spinning machines, for example, with feed sliver that is stored in spinning cans with round cross sections, is known. The round cans are brought by a transport vehicle that picks up the containers at a charging station of an upstream production machine, for example from a drawing frame or a card. Since the diameter of such round cans is greater than the width of the spinning stations at which the sliver material is processed further, the spinning cans must be set up in at least two rows disposed one after the other in the regions of the spinning stations.
Since spinning cans that have run empty must be replaced with spinning cans having new feed material as fast as possible, the "random exchange" system is used. The automatic changing process known as "empty can out, full can in" is quite complicated, particularly when the change is to be carried out automatically and the can to be changed is located in the rear row.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attempts have therefore already been made in the past to simplify such a can changing process.
German Petty Patent G 88 12 622 and German Published, Non-Prosecuted Applications DE 40 15 938 A1 and DE 40 18 088 A1, for instance, describe the use of flattened spinning cans. The widths of such spinning cans are adapted to the width of the spinning stations of the spinning machine in question, in order to allow all of the spinning cans equipped with feed material to be positioned side by side, so that a second, rear row of spinning cans can be avoided. The use of such flattened spinning cans having the same width as the spinning stations has indeed lead to a simplification in the can changing process in the region of the spinning stations. However, it does not avoid a further considerable disadvantage of such feed material transport systems, which is that full or empty spinning cans are moved back and forth constantly between the preparation machines (card or drawing frame) and the spinning machines.
German Patent DE 18 15 776 C2, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,045; German Published, Prosecuted Application DE-AS 20 62 768, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,174; and East German Patent DD-PS 63 306, also disclose spinning machines in which the feed sliver is fed in "canlessly". The feed material is present in such spinning machines in the form of a sliver bobbin.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for supplying sliver to the spinning stations of spinning machines, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods and devices of this general type and which provide a further-simplified and markedly more-efficient supply of feed material, such as sliver, to spinning stations.